Restraining device



Jan. 18, 1949. C, F MESSINA ET AL 2,459,712

RESTRAINING DEVICE Filed Aug. 2, 1946 2 sheets-sheet 1 Mi; w@

Jan. 18, 1949. C, F, MEssJNA ET AL `2,459,712

RESTRAINING DEVICE Filed Aug. 2, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l nl..

lllll @if [z E E- 1 L 9% p -l5 5-2 E51 Patented Jan. 18g 1949 HThisinvention relates Sto equipment lto-aid-` :police oilcers inltransportation of prisoners; Anbj ect ofthe invention isto provide a device zwhich, wheninstalled in -a'police automobile or 'the like, twill handcuff.` prisoners'y vand Vrestrain them; fromescaping; l l

Another objectef the-inventionvis lto provide Aampolice accessory whichwillenable` asingle policeman to transport a prisoner'in the lback seat ofaipolice automobile :and will hold` the prisoner .securely against .injuring the policeman zduring the trip. Y

LA further object of the invention is to provide handcui device which. may be installed? in policeautomobiles without substantial structural changes therein. 5;/ .if Still another object of the invention is to provide a restraining devicefor preventing thees- Acape of prisoners, which issimple indesign, iriexpensive ,tomanufacture and effective inoperaf tion. 'f t i. v Other objects and advantages of the invention willloecome apparentirom the following description oialpreferred embodiment thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and infwhich, .f f. 1., Figure 1 isa side elevation of the devicelas installed in a police automobile,

' figure 24 is anl elevational viewpof 4'the device as seenrfrom the left of Figure-1,- f Figure 3 is a fragmentary view of aportionof the 4device illustrating the mode of attachment of the left and rightends of the handcuff barsas seen in` Figure 2 l `Figure 4 is an enlarged side elevation l of a porf .tiqnlof the device including the safety bar latch as seen in Figure 1,

. AFigure 5v is a partly broken out -plan View ofthe i portionof the device shown in-l'igure/i,l

Y Figure 6 is a view of a portion of thehandcu bars, and Eigure 7 is aftransverse sectional view taken on line-l of Figure 6. i a 1 In the work of the police, it frequentlyhappens that a single police ofcerapprehends awcri'minal '.and'must transport him `to Vthe police stationin apolice automobile. During such transportation,

the police oicenbeingiousy withdrtvingis par` ticularly vulnerable to a surprise attack bythe limsrit'AINlNG.'-nEvroE" l I Charles Messina and MichaeliM. .ll/Iessina, l y vCentral Valley, N. Y@ v ff-l Applicatignaagust 2, 1946, :snaai` N. 638,012 lVaclanis. (omo-flexif l "breal'cV away;v even1 though ha'ndcued; `The "presentidevice-@makes it' possible for afsingle ipoliceofcerto' transport several criminals inthe back vseat Vof'an automobile without fear of their l Reference is now had yto'the drawings, in which llike `reference-- characters denote similar parts throughout' 'the severalv views. y*As shown, there `is an automobilel Witnfront and rearseat's I2- and L with a floor space between the front and rear seats(V Left "and` upright supportfmembers :8 Vand HL conveniently madev ofvangle: iron, form'lthe support for the entire devicej-and are anchored attheirllower ends i2 and M to the automobile chassis :by welding'orotherwise.' `The support members'i-` an'd -lG are inclined rearwardly as shown 1in Figureljto conform tothe contourr of the reans'urface ltlof the-front seat-2,#bein'g Y placed in contact therewithffff f A cross bar i8 is connected at its endsf2t and 22 "to theupper ends 24 landre@ f the support membe'rsl'and it; asbest seenivnFigure-Zgby welding or riveting;Vv thusconneoting andspacing the support 4lrnembe'rs A-'Left"` ^and right'safetyf'bar brackets 28-iand 30 are-pivotedfat their.' upper ends 32 and 34 tothe upright-supports'iandI0 as 4shown in' Figure' 2,-b'y: means of' pivot pins' 36 and' 38. FAL safety b'ar'l/lll is welded or otherwise secured-lat-'its"endszf and'M- to the lower ends '46 and fi 'Sy vof the safety bar .brackets '28.and 3,0, `the *han i Ml beingadapted fori-preventing ythe prisoners'fro'm moving their-legs A'fxed hande-mr bar 5c iswfeidedp otherwise secured-atfits leftaridv right end's'asse'enY- in Fig-ure 2; to the vbrackets '23 and! 30intermediate :their: @naait-heben auf .being formeel-with de+ f `pressed?fcurvedportions-'52X at -intervals along its"lengthwl'iichlare the lower. portions of hand'l cuis formed thereby. A movable upper hand# cuff bar 5Fl li-spivoted at its' left end 56' to-the yleft end'of the lowerxedhandcui bar 56) by means of a' hinge 58 securedfto both-members as lshown lin FigureiB, sothe entire bar gxd-may pivot to the position shown inv dotted line'sin Figure 3 to open -the'ihandcufsformed.' between the `depressed handcufportions 52m? the xedbarv 5t and thel similarly ''fbutl o'p-p'ositelyv 'curved Iuprai's'ed"hand- .cuff portions et; forme'd 1in the' vupper movable handcuff bar 54. The curvedportionsv '52 and 60 arelinedivtithileathe'r1.621 and" form `wrist holes -for soners, the movable bar 54 being then pivoted clockwise from the broken line position as seen in Figure 2 to closed position, thus preventing the prisoners from withdrawing their wrists and escaping. A latch pin 64 has its shank extending through aligned holes 88 and 68 in the right ends of bars 50 and 54, and has a safety pin I0 insertable through a hole in the pin 64 and also through aligned transverse holes in the bar 54 to retain the pin B4 against removal and to keep the bar 54 in closed position shown on the right side of Figure 3. A spring 'l2 acts `to spread the bars 50 and 544 apart when the safety pin vHi is removed.

A latch wheel 14, is pivotally secured to the lower end 48 oi the bracket 30 by means of a pin Y 16, and is provided with notches 18 for reception n ally mounting said movable bar on said xed'bar,

of and engagement with a safety bar latch postI 88 the other end 82 of which is welded to the side wall 84 of the automobile. Thevlatch wheel-"I4 is held against rotation by means of a tongue 86 on one end of a safety bar` latch 8,8 which is slidable longitudinally of the `bracket'Sll on pins 90 carried by bracket 30 andxextendingthrough an elongated slot 92 formed in the latch 88, as best seen in Figures 4 and 5.` A handle 94 projects out of latch 88 for convenience in moving the latch into position. When the latch is all the way tothe left with itstongue 86 engaging in one of the notches 18, as shown in Figure 4, a latch lock 96 carried on bracket 30, is pivoted on pin 98 to its horizontal locked position as shown in full lines in Figure 4, to lock the latch 88 against rightward movemennbeing supported on stop pin |00. l

It is thus seen that our device will prevent; the

escape of prisoners and will hold them securely during transportation vAlthough We have described a preferred embodiment of our invention in specic terms, it is to be understood that various changes may be made insize, shape, materials and arrangement without departing from the spirit` and scope ofthe invention as claimed.v i vWe claim:

1. A device for securing prisoners, comprising a frame securable to the chassis of an automobile and supportableinside the automobile, left and right side safety bar brackets pivoted at one end to said frame, a iixed handcuff bar secured at its ends to ,said left and'riaht sarete bar brackets intermediate their ends, and having a. plurality of spaced wrist receiving depressions formed therein, a movable handcui bar pivoted at one end to one end of said xed handcui bar andhaving'` a plurality of upwardly curved portions correspond'- ing to said depressions in the fixed handcuff bar, for confining the wrists of the prisoners therebetween, said iixed and movable handcui bars having aligned apertures at their.; ends remotefrom their pivotal engagement, a latch pin insertable through said apertures for. locking said hand.- cuif bars together, and a, safety' pin for holding said latch pin in place. n

2. A device for securing prisoners, comprising-a frame securable to the chassis ofan automobile andv 'supportable inside thereof, lett and right safety bar brackets pivoted at one end to said frame, a xedhandcuii bar secured a-t its ends to said left and right safety bar bracketsV intermediate their ends, and having a. plurality of spaced wrist receiving depressions formed therein, a movable handcuff bar pivoted at one end to one end Off `said xed handcuii bar andl havin: Aa plurality ot upwardly rcurv.edportions corresponding tosaid depressions in the Xed handcu bar, for cony iining the wrists of prisoners therebetween, lock-f ing means at the ends of said handcui bars remotek from their pivotal connection for locking said handcui bars in closed position, a safety bar secured at its ends to the distal ends of said safety bar brackets, and releasable means engageable With the car frame for locking said brackets in prisoner holding position.

3. A device for securing prisoners, comprising a frame, means rigidly mounting said frame across the chassis of an automobile forwardly of a'seat' thereof, a xed handculi bar, means pivotally mountingsaid bar on saidframe, said bar being formed with a plurality` of depressions therein each adapted for the reception of the wrist of a. prisoner, a movable handcuif bar, means pivotsaid movable bar being formed with a plurality releasable `locking means for locking said fixed andmovable bars together in a wrist-confining v position. l

`4. `A device for securing-prisoners, comprising a frame, means rig-idly vmounting said frame across the chassisof an automobile forwardly vof a seatthereof, a iixed handcui'bar, means pivotally mounting saidbar on said frame, said bar being formed with a plurality ot depressions therein `each adapted foiL the reception of a wrist `ot a prisoner, a movable handcuff bar, means kpivotally mounting said movable bar on said fixed bar, said movable bar being formedl with a plurality of upwardly-curved recesses corresponding' to said depressions and adapted to cooperate therewith yto confine wrists of prisoners therebetween, releasable locking meansy for locking said' fixed and movable bars together'in a wrist-comming position, said second-named means including a rigid leg-oon ning bar rigidly connected thereto in spaced relationv to said xed handcuif bar, said last-named bar being movable with said first-named means into and out of a leg-confining operative position,

and means for locking said first-named means-'ln said operative position.

' 5. Adevice for securing prisoners, comprising a frame, means rigidly mounting said' across the chassis of an automobile forwardlyof a seat thereof, a fixed handcuii bar, extending transverselyl across said chassis, left and right safety bar brackets rigidly connected to said bar. means 'pivotally mounting said brackets to said frame, said bar extendingr between said brackets intermediate the end's ofthe latter, a movable handcuif bar, means pivotally mounting said'm'ovable bar on said fixed bar, said nxed and movable bars being formed with opposed'l cooperating recesses and depressions adapted to coniine wrists of prisoners therebetween, releasable locking means for locking said fixedand movable bars inI wrist-coniining position, a leg-confining bar iixed to opposite end portionsfof said brackets and extendingy transversely of said chassis, saidy lastnamed bar being pivotal with said brackets into and out; of an operative leg-confining position,

and means for locking said brackets: in 'saidoperaaframe, means mounting' said"V frame rigidly: to

anautomoblle inwardly of the chassis thereof and iorvvardlyfofaseat thereof, a leg-holding bar extending 4transversely of said chassis forwardly o! said mesnsfipivota'm mounting ysaid' bar 20a REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

5 UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 169,443k Houston NOV. 2, 1875 1,823,697 Nenstiehl Sept. 15, 1931 10 2,150,368 Fitzgerald et al. Mar. 14, 1939 

